Abstract:

Climate change and sustainable lifestyle concern us all. Hence, the aim of the project “Burgenland – nachhaltig, klimaschonend und umweltbewusst” ("Burgenland – sustainable, climate-friendly and environmentally aware") is to raise awareness for sustainability in order to initiate changes in behaviour. According to MAZZUCATO (2022), the intertwining of measures at all levels is essential to achieve this necessary change in awareness and behaviour. By adopting this approach the County of Burgenland, the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland and the platform NIB (Sustainable in Burgenland) worked within a common project to strengthen the knowledge and applicability of the 17 SDGs in secondary schools among the young generation.

In peer-to-peer workshops as preferred didactical principle (TOPPING, BUCHS, DURAN, VAN KEER, 2017) students of the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland discussed with students of selected secondary schools, aged 17 on average, the need for sustainable development by creating guidelines for action. In summer term 2022, three workshops on SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production) were held at three secondary schools, which were followed by SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth) in winter term 2022. A previous survey among 454 secondary school students showed that only 2% had knowledge about SDG 8, while 35.7% of the teachers have dealt with the topic intensively or very intensively in class. The gap between these results shows that the topic had not been accepted by the school students as desired. As a consequence, the project focused on SDG 8 in winter term 2022.

In the same survey, the secondary school students indicated excursions, projects and, in the third place with 53%, workshops as the preferred form of knowledge transfer. Upon this result, the peer-to-peer method, established in summer term 2022, had been continued in winter term 2022. International business students of the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland prepared the workshops, held in the same classes of the three secondary schools by attending the course "Green Practices in Business". Within this course, the business students designed the workshops, conducted surveys on sustainable behaviour in the workplace and researched best practice examples of green companies in their countries of origin. Upon this information, the school workshops between the business students and the school students started, based on the peer-to-peer method, teachers giving support only in case of difficulties.

The paper describes the project, elaborates on the three school workshops and the preparatory course "Green Practices in Business". by discussing the effectiveness of the peer-to-peer method applied to a recent topic like decent and sustainable work. It presents the results of questionnaires which had been developed by the teachers and distributed among the school students after the workshops, reflecting the changed attitude towards sustainable work among the young generation and demonstrating, on how the peer-to-peer method contributed to this change.

Keywords:

Peer-to-peer-method, workshops, sustainable work, decent work, vocational school students.